Jetpack Joyride Review

Halfbrick is back with their new game Jetpack Joyride.  If you liked Monster Dash you will be in hog heaven here and if you didn't play Monster Dash, more fool you.


In Jetpack Joyride, Barry Steakfries makes his third appearance, however this time rather than trying to take out monsters he is simply going, as the titles suggests, for a joy-ride on a jetpack.    During the infinite scroll, see how far you can get style gameplay that most ipod / flash gamers will be accustomed to, you collect coins and try to get Barry as far as you can.   Whilst this is all going on there is also a range of missions to complete.  Once passed these grant you stars that increase the players level and grant extra cash. The in game cash can be used to purchase in game abilities, vehicle upgrades, alternate jetpacks or costumes for Barry.

All of this unlocking, customisation and levelling up adds a large extension to the gameplay, despite just being one action racing platformer.  Also boasting online leaderboards and achievements this game is bound to keep you occupied for a while.

Jetpack Joyride is a must buy for anyone with an ipod, it is possibly the greatest racing platformer to date 5/5

Spooky Hoofs Review

Spooky Hoofs is yet another racing platformer available on the iOS marketplace.  This time around the player takes control of a run away carriage being pulled by horses.  There are two buttons jump and whiplash, which charges through obstacles in your path.

Overall the game is what you would expect, you jump or smash through the obstacles in your path, whilst trying to get as far as possible.   However Spooky Hoofs innovates with arcade style boss fights and three different power ups.

Despite this innovation the game is unnecessarily hard on the processor usage, which was a bad move on the developers part.  Meaning that the game is unplayable by anyone who has an ipod older than a 3GS.  When I played it the game lagged out, often causing jumping to become a much larger issue than it should have to be.

Graphically the game is okay and better than most of its genre.  It looks like the developers were intending for it to look like Castlevania but lacked the ability to pull it off fully.  The game looks nice but it is let down by a rather plain and ugly looking menu.

If you like the racing platformer genre and possess an up to date iphone/ ipod, then you may want to give this a go.  otherwise I would pass on it.

Spooky Hoofs is a creepy looking race game with some innovation, let down by extreme processor usage. 3/5

Super Drill Panic Review

Super Drill panic is the second iOS game to be released by the development team Orangepixel.  In making Super Drill Panic Orangepixel have taken a step away from Meganoid, their well received platformer, and moved into the racing platformer genre.

The game is level based and you must direct your character using the accelerometer, to the bottom of the level before they lose all of their lives.  Each area on the map consists of 5 levels and on each level there is three different objectives to be met, these are level completion, chest collection and coin collecting.  Once all three of these targets have been met, the level is 100% complete.  The initial map with the Indiana Jones character is 3 areas long and once completed, there is an arcade mode in which you go on infinitely until you die.

Once all of that little chaps levels are complete the thief is unlocked.  The thief's levels are harder and more complex in their design, keeping the player held back for much longer than the first characters.

Both characters have a total of 15 levels and an arcade mode each, along with personal item upgrades for each one.

Super Drill Panic is as addictive as it is charming.  This game will keep you occupied for a long time and is a must buy for anyone with an ipod, especially since at the moment it is free.

If Meganoid is anything to go by, expect there to be further content added in good time.

Super Drill Panic is a superb race game with a lot of charm 5/5   

Mr. Karoshi Review

Mr. Karoshi is an addictive puzzle platformer on the iOS marketplace.  Instead of the usual platforming experience, the aim of the game here is to kill the protagonist.  The depressed Japanese office worker longs to die and you must help him do so, by any means necessary.  Whether it is by throwing him onto spikes or setting up and intricate electrical circuit, you will kill him off and once you do the explosion of gore is strangely satisfying.


Karoshi's controls are simple and straight forward.  While they may not be intuitive for people who are not used to pressing virtual buttons, the standard iOS gamer should have no issue here.  During each level you must use these controls to direct Karoshi to interact with his surroundings, pushing boxes, firing guns and flipping switches.

The game contains fifty levels and each one looks superb on the iPod, with the games cute pixely retro charm.  The games graphics and sounds, go hand in hand with the games theme.  While the premise is dark it is also humorous and does not take itself seriously.  It is far removed from sleeping pills, or a rusty razor blade in a bath tub.  Along with these fifty levels there is also a bonus unlockable mini game.


The beauty of this game for myself personally, was the way in which some levels have multiple end-game scenarios and there are a number of ways to end Karoshi's bland and stressful existence.


Mr. Karoshi has a lot of charm and is unique in terms of what the iOS market place has to offer.  It is a must by, especially if you are a fan of puzzle games.


See the interview with the games creator, Jesse Venbrux here.


A unique and darkly humorous, puzzle platformer - 5/5

Jesse Venbrux on Mr. Karoshi

Recently I managed to hunt down Jesse Venbrux, the man responsible for releasing his hit indie PC game Mr. Karoshi, onto the iOS market place.  I asked him for an interview and here is the result:

Mr. Karoshi is a very novel idea.  Where did you get your inspiration?  


I try and come up with original ideas, so one part of the story is that I am just always looking for them. But I believe at the time I read about a game called "5 minutes to kill yourself" and played a super difficult platformer called I Wanna Be The Guy. In that last game I noticed how getting killed was kind of satisfactory (the visuals and sound) and in my head these different ideas got connected to form Karoshi.

Why did you start making games?

I've always been making things, drawing pictures, writing stories so the question for me is "why do I make stuff?". My parent are artists so it's just the kind of person I am. I enjoy coming up with something that didn't exist before, I think that's pretty amazing.


How did you get into making apps? 

The company behind Game Maker asked me to make a PSP game, as they were working on some universal converter. Later they switched to focus on iOS and Android. As such Karoshi was originally designed for PSP but came out on iOS and Android first. In hindsight I am happy with how the game turned out, since I was worried the controls wouldn't translate well. However I wish I had put some more time in the touch screen version to make more use of the devices specific features for clever puzzles. Who knows, perhaps in the future.

You have quite a large selections of free games on your site, do you think you will release any more on the iOS format?

I might release something in the future but probably not any of my old games. Most of them don't fit the touch screen devices well. Currently I am working for a company so don't have much time unfortunately to dedicate to personal projects.

All of your games that I have played so far involve death and most are fairly nightmarish in their atmosphere.  Why do you like making games in this fashion?


I have a dark sense of humour. Also, I want people to feel something when they play my games. Maybe I want them to feel something I felt (we all want to share our feelings right?). There's some morbid feeling about death which I think I was able to express with gameplay. I hope I'll be able to express (I should say: make people feel) more and different feelings with my work.

I don't have any bad experience with death or thoughts of suicide, and up till Karoshi never made games or other things about death so I'm not sure what happened but it must have something to do with my personality.

PixelJunk Monsters

Finally what do you have planned next?

I'm currently working on PixelJunk Monsters for social networks at a company called Q-Games. PixelJunk Monsters is a cute tower defense game currently available on the PlayStation Network.In the future I may do mobile again or more games on social networks or a combination. But I'm sure I'll keep making lots of games!

To check out more games by Jesse Venbrux check out his site here

Platforming Hell Review

Platform Hell Pro as the title suggests is a platformer.  Arching back to the old days, every level is on one screen, like the old micro computer days, which hosted games such as Joust or Jetpac.  The difference here is that there is a huge amount of levels for you to work through.

Each level requires you to avoid all of the hazards and then exit via the door on the map.  Any platform player knows what to expect from a game like this, therefore there is unlikely to be any disappointment.  The reason why the game has the title Platforming Hell, is because there are not only a large amount of levels but as each one progresses they get harder and harder, eventually becoming almost impossible.

What hinders your progress even more is your characters floaty jumps that make it deliberately hard to judge, distance and hight. Despite the first levels being easier, they are still near impossible to gain a good rank on, which will fuel any hardcore platform player even more.

The only negative I would pull from the game is the completely garish artwork.  Deliberate though it may be, the use of greens, pinks and browns sometimes made me want to put the game down.  However if you are not offended by a gudy pallet or hideous pattens then this will pass you by.

For platformers this is a must buy, however if you are not too sure I suggest trying out the free one first, which is titled just Platforming Hell.


Platforming Hell Pro is a gaudy, harsh platformer with a lot to offer, a must for any platformer fans 4/5